Mountain pygmy possum

Burramys parvus

Blamed on foxes

IUCN status: Critically Endangered

EPBC Threat Rating: Very high

IUCN claim: “Predation by the introduced Red Fox is also a threat”

Studies in support

Possums were found in fox scats in three studies (Green & Osborne 1981; Green 2003; Davis et al. 2015).

Studies not in support

No studies

Is the threat claim evidence-based?

There are no studies linking foxes to pygmy possum populations.

Evidence linking Burramys parvus to foxes. Systematic review of evidence for an association between Burramys parvus and foxes. Positive studies are in support of the hypothesis that foxes contribute to the decline of Burramys parvus, negative studies are not in support. Predation studies include studies documenting hunting or scavenging; baiting studies are associations between poison baiting and threatened mammal abundance where information on predator abundance is not provided; population studies are associations between threatened mammal and predator abundance.

References

Davis NE, Forsyth DM, Triggs B, Pascoe C, Benshemesh J, Robley A, et al. (2015) Interspecific and Geographic Variation in the Diets of Sympatric Carnivores: Dingoes/Wild Dogs and Red Foxes in South-Eastern Australia. PLoS ONE 10(3): e0120975. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0120975

EPBC. (2015) Threat Abatement Plan for Predation by Feral Cats. Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, Department of Environment, Government of Australia. (Table A1).

Green, K. (2003). Altitudinal and temporal differences in the food of foxes (Vulpes vulpes) at alpine and subalpine altitudes in the Snowy Mountains. Wildlife Research, 30(3), 245. doi:10.1071/wr02008 

Green, K., & Osborne, W. (1981). The Diet of Foxes, Vulpes Vulpes (L.), In Relation to Abundance of Prey Above the Winter Snowline in New South Wales. Wildlife Research, 8(2), 349. doi:10.1071/wr9810349 

Wallach et al. 2023 In Submission